State Spending on Corrections

"State spending on corrections reflects the costs to build and operate prison system and may include spending on juvenile justice programs and alternatives to incarceration such as probation and parole. Total state spending on corrections in fiscal 2020 increased 4.1 percent over fiscal 2019, to $65.9 billion, with a median growth rate of 3.7 percent. State general funds comprised nearly 89 percent of corrections spending in fiscal 2020; no other major area of state government spending is so heavily reliant upon the state general fund. General fund spending for corrections increased 3.3 percent in estimated 2020. In fiscal 2019, total state spending for corrections totaled $63.3 billion, a 3.9 percent increase, with a median growth rate of 3.9 percent. General fund spending grew 3.5 percent in fiscal 2019."